


love sick

by keithxlance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, hints of mutual pining, i'm not satisfied with this but i wanted to get this out of my head, keith is the black paladin, set post season 2, shiro is nowhere to be found
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-06 21:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10345080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithxlance/pseuds/keithxlance
Summary: In which Keith gets sick and confessions ensue.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't stop getting this idea out of my idea so i wrote this. It's very rushed, and unbeta'd and i apologize for any grammar/spelling errors etc. It's 1 am where I am and I'm...tired  
> Shoutout to my friend Mel for helping me with some of the names <3  
> Enjoy!

Keith had no idea of what had happened. He was very happy for the positive outcome of their most recent mission, except maybe for his burning wrist, which was almost as red as his previous lion. All he had done was accidentally brush against the leaves of a plant (vaguely similar to Earth's nettle) whose acid was able to corrode his armor and now it hurt like hell.  
He decided not to pay much attention to it, convinced he would have been fine in just a couple of minutes. Or so he thought. One moment he was fine, the other moment he found himself laying on the floor, surrounded by concerned pairs of eyes that were scrutinizing him attentively, as if something was wrong. He tried to get up, but his head felt dizzy. His vision was a blur, as if he was recovering by a drunken state. Istinctively reaching his forehead to push some hair strands on the side, he felt warmness, that was spreading all across his face. 

"W-what happened?" He asked, breathing heavily. The words barely came out of his throat and he felt like suffocating.

"We were gonna ask you the same thing. You passed out all of a sudden." Pidge said, adjusting her glasses on her nose.

"I was starting to think someone had to give you a kiss to wake you up or something." Lance muttered sarcastically, his eyes avoiding Keith.

"It seems like you've got the nclufgy fever." Coran interjected, never tearing his gaze from Keith's wrist.

"T-the what?"

"Nclufgy fever! Planet Nettalia is full of those plants. The mere contact with one of them can cause the rise of the body temperature and even allucinations in some extreme cases. It seems like you have it."

" _N_... _Nope_ , nope I cannot say this name out loud I refuse." Pidge replied. "And I thought learning Altean was hard."

" _Oh come on_! It's so easy!" Coran exclaimed, twirling his moustache."You just have to go like thi---"

"Will the healing pod make him feel better?" Allura asked.

"I'm afraid not Princess. Keith needs to take a specific antidote. The ingredients are not hard to find, but I need to leave immediately. It will only take a couple of days. In the meantime, he needs someone to take care of him."

"Of course. We will make turns." Lance spoke. Out of all the paladins, he seemed the most concerned about Keith's current state. He had the classic 'kicked puppy' look on his face that made Keith's cheeks flush, and not only because of the fever.

"Can I ask you something before you go?" Hunk chimed in, looking uncertain.

"Yeah sure. What is it about?"

"I'm assuming you're gonna have to treat the ingredients....herbs, liquids, whatever they are, in some way right? I was wondering if I... could do it."

Coran raised an eyebrow. "You want to.... prepare the medicine?"

"I... I'd like for you to teach me how to, yes. I think it'll be very useful if I learn medical things like these. I've been thinking about this for a while, if there ever is the need of some potions or something... I'd like to be prepared. Kind of like when I accidentally baked crystal cookies, but this time on purpose."

"Awesome! Of course you can." Coran smiled.

"I d-don't think anyone could do it better than you anyway." Keith murmured, voice still feeble.

"Aww thank you Keith that means a lot." Hunk replied contently.

 

* * *

 

 

Helped by Lance and Hunk, Keith managed to slowly raise up from the floor and get rid of his armor, that felt heavier than usual. His legs and feet were sore, like he had walked thousands of miles. Before leaving, Coran had covered his bruise and treated it with what he guessed was space disinfectant.

"S-such a good leader y-you have right here. I got sick and weak because I couldn't be enough careful not to touch a plant on a foreign planet."

"It's not your fault! You didn't know." Hunk tried to reassure him.

"B-but I...should have. How will I protect you if I can't even protect myself?"

"We're capable of protecting ourselves you know that right? We didn't ask you to be our hero. Heck, we didn't even ask you to be our leader if I have to be honest." Lance grumbled. 

" _Fair enough_." Keith sighed. He didn't mind Lance scolding him at times. Without Shiro, the blue paladin was the only one capable of keeping him grounded. Probably because he knew how to challenge him. Probably because he ignited that spark in him no one else could do. Keith had never admitted that to him, but he was glad to have him as his right-hand man. He would lie, if he said that was the only title he would ever want to refer Lance as, but that was unrealistic and he didn't think he had a chance.

"I'm sorry I'm telling you this but...you look terrible. Like you haven't slept in a month." Hunk admitted. There was no malice in his words, just deep concern.

"He's right. I'm so gonna give you some face mask treatment after you recover. I found many new natural ingredients during our recent missions that I'm excited to use." Lance murmured, patting Keith's back lightly. The former red paladin coughed, almost wobbling away from Hunk and Lance's grasp. The two managed to hold him steady.

"Resist buddy. We're almost in your room. We're gonna tuck you in bed and take care of you."

"You're lucky your room is next to mine. So I can easily check on you at night."

"Y-you.... you don't have to do....that, you need...sleep..."

Lance shushed him. "Don't talk. It's evident you can barely do it."

"I-I don't... have t-time for bed Lance! We need to find Shirr _rr_..." Another violent cough stopped the words in his throat.

"No, we need you to rest until Coran comes back. It's an order." Hunk replied.

Keith sighed in defeat. " _Alright_."

 

* * *

 

 

"Where is your color coded pyjama?" Lance asked.

"Listen I don't us---"

"Why.... _Why_ do you hate being comfortable Keith. I don't... I don't get it. I don't get you."

"I-It's fine. I didn't even want to get in bed."

"But you need to stay in it. Got it?" Hunk reprimanded him.

"Was there something Shiro used to do when you were sick? Sing you to sleep or something." Lance inquired. He was currently sitting on the edge of Keith's bed, while the black paladin was tucked in, looking very miserable. He shot him a confused look. 

"W-where's Pidge?" He demanded.

"In her room. Building something to cheer you up. That's all she said." Hunk confessed. For a second Keith's eyes felt watery, as if he was about to cry, touched by his friend's gesture and the care Pidge was probably putting into doing something for him. He was blessed to consider all of them as family. 

"L-look at the _trio of wonder_ , taking a care of me." He whispered softly, an amused smile creeping across his lips.

Hunk and Lance both chuckled. "Alright. I'm going to get some ice for your forehead. Lance will keep you company while I do so." Hunk said and dismissed himself with the two fingers salute.

"I think I'm rubbing off him more than I thought." Lance joked, causing Keith to giggle between a cough and the other.

"T-thank you for that. I needed it." Keith blurted. "Also....I-if I don't make it..."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? _Oh my God, Keith_. Stop being so overdramatic. You'll be fine."

He put his hand on Keith's forehead, brushing some raven strands off his face.

"W-what are you..." He began, cheeks flushing.

"You're very hot."

" _Thanks_."

Lance huffed. " _You know what I meant_. This is the fever speaking. There are no other explanations for you saying something I would say." Keith giggled again, longer than before.

"You're starting to worry me."

"You're funny, Lance. Like... very funny. You're smart too. And _cu_ \--"

" _Okay STOP RIGHT THERE_. You're being delirious now. Your temperature is probably raising. God, why is Hunk taking so long??" He complained, nervously tapping one of his feet on the floor.

"H-He's been gone for like a minute Lance." Keith babbled.

" _Ah_... There's the Keith I know." He said softly. An adoring look on his face.

It wasn't a mystery that their relationship had gotten a lot better in the past months. Everyone had notice the change, and everyone knew they would have died for each other. There was something in their eyes when they spoke to each other, that glint that could tell they genuinely enjoyed being together, without arguing, without trying to one up each other.

" _Hold my hand Lance_." Keith pleaded, unveiling his arm from his blanket, extending it foward to the blue paladin. Lance froze, uncertain on what to do. On one hand (no pun intended) he felt very amused by the idea of having such a private moment with his probably-not-so-secret crush. On the other, he was convinced this was just his feverish state deciding things for him. Coran did say that the plant could bring allucinations. He wondered what he was actually seeing. Maybe not even him. He held his hand nonetheless.

There was something comforting in interwining his fingers with Keith's. "For how long do we need to hold hands?"

"F-for how long I require." He teased, and then giggled again. It was music to Lance's hears.

"You know... You shouldn't use your new position to get me to do what you want." Lance chuckled. "If you wanted to do coupley stuff, you could have just asked."

"R-right. I purposely got sick so that you could cuddle with me." 

"I would rather have you not sick then don't you think? At least it's not contagious."

"You are my hero Lance." 

"Wha--"

"And heroes always deserve kisses." He giggled once again. Lance pondered how serious all of his recent ramblings could have been. Unable of getting words out of his mouth, he stayed there, firm in his position, still hand in hand with Keith, hoping Hunk would have entered in the room soon.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance wasn't able to sleep that night. First of all, he was super worried about Keith. Second of all, he couldn't stop thinking about him. Third of all, he couldn't stop thinking about the things he had said that day. He wondered how much truth there was in Keith's words. His thoughts were unfortunately interrupted soon enough by a loud scream echoing through his walls. Was Keith having a nightmare?

He quickly got out of bed, put his blue lion slipper and his nightgown on and rushed towards Keith's room. Thankfully, the door opened automatically. 

"L-Lance? W-What are you doing here?" Keith asked, his voice a mere whisper, using his elbows to raise up slowly and leaning on the wall. His eyes were red and puffed, as if he had been crying.

"I came to check on you. I should have just...stayed in your room for the night. You clearly need assistance."

"D-don't be ridiculous I do not... I can handle mysel---" Keith interrupted himself coughing.

"No. No you don't. Let your awesome space ranger partner take care of you alright?"  
Noticing Keith didn't try to insist any further and seeing him nodding, Lance sat down on his bed. After a few minutes of just looking at his laps, he turned his head to Keith, waiting for him to speak up.

"I... I was having a nightmare."

"Yeah I figured. I heard you scream from my room."

"Sorry."

"It's fine, I wasn't sleeping anyway."

"Uh? Why?"

Lance felt himself blush. "Truth to be told... I... was worried about you." Keith gulped, words dying in his throat. Lance could see his cheeks reddening, couldn't tell if it was for the temperature raising again or not. He decided to speak again and ease the sudden tension in the air.

"What was your nightmare about?"

"I... I-It was very confusing... We were in a battle.... All I remember is that... I couldn't protect you. And I started crying and crying... Then I woke up screaming and... I felt tears on my tongue."

" _Keith_..."

"I... I always watch you Lance." He sobbed. 

"Why? Would would you do th---"

"I see it in your eyes. I see that y-you... d-doubt yourself. I want you to know that you're an amazing pilo--"

"Is your temperature raising again?" Lance interrupted him, leaning forward to press his hand on Keith's forehead. 

"N-No. _You have to listen to me_... I... don't think I'm a good leader Lance. Look at me. In bed with a space illness. Shiro nowhere to be found. I---"

"I think you're cool." Lance admitted, tearing his gaze away from Keith.

"W-What... _Since when do you_ \---"

"Always have. Just... never told you in person I guess." Lance murmured, fidgeting with his hands on his lap.

Keith giggled again, exactly like he had done that day. "Why not?" 

"I don't know. I was...scared. I guess." 

"Of what?"

Lance didn't reply. He was too occupied watching Keith never ending giggles. He assumed it was a strange collateral effect of the fever. 

" _Lance_..."

"Yes?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You don't understand.... W-Why do you think so badly of yourself I... You're so amazing... and smart. A-And kind. You bring joy in the group. You're funny and selfless. _I love you_. _So_. _Much_."

And that was when a startled Lance ran off the room, calling the others.

 

* * *

 

 

Days passed and Coran came back with the cure. Keith felt immediately better and recovered very easily. He couldn't exactly remember what had happened when he was sick. He remembered Lance coming to his room at late night but everything was a blur in his head. What he noticed though, was that Lance kept strangely avoiding him since and he had know idea why.


End file.
